October 17, 1955 the Texas National Bank building (the backside of the sign also promoted Conoco, who also held floors in the building) opened with a Weather Eye or Weather Beacon affixed atop.
Its address was 921 Main and McKinney and it was designed by Kenneth Franzheim.
LIFE Magazine ran a page with a photo from the interior of the ball August 22, 1955
It's text read, "Until recently people in Houston, Texas found out the weather forecast in the old-fashioned ways, like reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching TV. Now they can just look out the window. From anywhere in the city -- and at night from 25 miles out -- they can see a colored ball glowing 285 feet high in the air. A Plexiglass sphere 18 feet in diameter and lined with 2,200 feet of light tubing, the ball changes color to predict the weather: red for warmer, green for no change, white for cooler, and blinking light for rain..
The weather ball rests on top of an 85-foot tower mounted of the roof of a new skyscraper being built by two Texas companies. To insure equal billing, the companies' signs are mounted back to back on the tower and are rigged to rotate, flashing the two names endlessly under the weather."
undated postcard with the lit-up weatherball at right
a great photo of the building and ball is online in Houston on the Move
another undated postcard
and apparently the jingle for the balls was the same all over
Sometime in 1964, the ball was removed from atop the building and housed in a warehouse, reportedly because pilots flying in and out of Hobby Airport had complained it was an aviation hazard.
A few years later, when Astroworld was in its infancy, it was bought, painted, and installed at the front gate where it stood for more than three decades. In 1994, after Time Warner purchased its large share in the park, a remodel removed the globe and from there, it has disappeared into thin air. There does not appear to be any trace of a buyer at auction or its whereabouts.
from the 1973 Conroe yearbook
1984 Chronicle photo currently on sale via eBay
a final view from on high in the AstroNeedle
"Its address was 921 Main and McKinney and it was designed by Kenneth Franzheim." Address is wrong, should be 1300 Main. Also, every place I've seen says the weather ball was dismantled in 1964, but I've found pictures of it with a skyline that didn't exist until 1967. I'm trying to confirm that this is indeed the case, that it didn't come down until a few years later than 1964.
ReplyDeleteI heard that it now resides onstage at Joel Osteen's Lakewood church. I cannot verify that.
ReplyDelete